Birdman

plot

Birdman or "The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance" is a black comedy that tells the story of an actor – famous for portraying an iconic superhero – as he struggles to mount a Broadway play. In the days leading up to opening night, he battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career, and himself.

Birdman or "The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance" is a black comedy that tells the story of an actor – famous for portraying an iconic superhero – as he struggles to mount a Broadway play. In the days leading up to opening night, he battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career, and himself. less

Birdman Audience Review

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This movie will transport you to the depths of anguish and frustration as an ageing and jaded Hollywood star tries to make a desperate comeback on Broadway stage and regain his lost glory.He also has to fight the ghosts and demons in his mind in this process not to speak of the dysfunctional relationships with his wife and daughter. He is bitter about the present and frequently lives in the past with his alter ego " the birdman".

It is not a film which is easy to like and appreciate with its overall feeling of doom and pessimism it projects. Definitely not the normal entertainment one seeks.

Presented in an unusual format of a single shot by director AG Inarittu where scenes merge into one another as night turns into day and indoors become outdoors. The camera follows the characters at all times through doors and corridors resulting in a voyeuristic style of movie making.( So no character ever closes the door on the way out allowing the cameraman to follow through).

So we have Michael leaving after an argument in his room, walk outside to the road, go into a whiskey shop, come and lie on a bench, camera pans to a night sky, night slowly turns into day and the scene continues. An out of the way technique indeed ! ( An interesting trivia is that one of our 1 hour episodes of CID was shot on a single shot format sometime back)

The setting of the movie is a building housing the theatre with the green rooms all connected with narrow corridors which gives plenty of opportunity to the director to employ the camera and editing gimmicks explained above. A total sense of claustrophobia compounded with angst sets in and gives a hallucinating effect.

In addition to the novel format of presentation, the movie has a superb performance of Michael Keaton as the troubled ex star with an agonised soul.He brings to life the complexities of the character in a very convincing way.Edward Norton ( co actor) and Emma stone ( daughter ) give good support.